Saved game successfully but can't load save file.

Hi,

I use v0.59 (on Windows 10 Pro) and I saved my game in GC8 without any issues, that is, I used S to save and then I quit the game at the menu by pressing 5. When I relaunch the game and go to the 'Continue game' screen, I can see my save file there. If I select the save file to load it, nothing happens for about 2 seconds and then the application exits.

Is there any chance I can salvage this save file or should I just move on?

It's strange because I had saved and reloaded that character about a dozen times without issues before reaching GC8. The only notable thing that happened on my final playthrough was stepping on a big mine in GC8 which triggered a ton of events that I managed to survive, then I explored the rest of the level and saved. Maybe something happened during the big mine explosion that could not be properly saved.

Is there are also an autosave file? You could try loading that one and see if it works better. Autosave should trigger every 100 turns, so not much progress lost.

Second option, there should be a Save folder in your IVAN folder. You could copy it aside and reinstall IVAN, then copy the Save folder back. This way your save is preserved and if something got messed up with IVAN itself, it should work again.

Third, in Options at the very bottom (page 3 or something like that), there should be an experimental option to load old or corrupted save files. If you turn it on and try to load your save file again, maybe it will work.

Hi red_kangaroo, thanks a lot for the suggestions. I tried them out but no luck. It's all good though. I've come to expect that IVAN's unforgiving nature will send me back to the banana village one way or another.

1) There's only 1 save file shown in the "Continue game" screen. I don't see any autosaves. The Save folder has a .wm, a .sav, and a bunch of numbered files (.10-.17, .20, .30, .40-.42, .70-.71). Not sure if any of these files are autosave files.

2) I reinstalled IVAN and restored the Save folder but this did not fix the issue. I guess the save file is corrupted.

3) I enabled the experimental feature for old save files but this did not fix the issue.

it would be interesting to see what exactly is wrong there.

can you please:
1) archive all files in your "save" folder;
2) clean "save", start a new game, enter UT, save and exit, and archive this save under another name;
3) upload both archives, so i could take a look?

step "2" is needed because i don't know if 32-bit and 64-bit saves are compatible, and if i'll be able to read your save at all. so i need a "clean" one to check if it loads. then i can try to investigate yours.

this won't… save your save , though, it is prolly broken beyond repair. but i might be able to spot what's wrong there, and try to fix that bug (or at least narrow it) to save future saves.

corrupted saves is known IVAN problem, which several people tried to fix, but some dark necromancer keep resurrecting it.

p.s.: it is important to archive the whole "save" folder — all files there are parts of the saved game state, and i need them all. the game basically saves each dungeon level in a separate file, so those are all dungeons you visited.

Hi vasiliy,

I attached the corrupted and working save files as requested and I verified that the UT1 save can be loaded successfully.

Thanks for taking a look, I hope it's helpful!

thank you! clean save loads ok here too, so i'll try to take a look at the broken one. sadly, i cannot promise anything (this bug is a NASTY one… and maybe not even one , but it's something to start with. thank you for your patience and help!

maybe i'll be able to at least deduce where it made a wrong turn. the problem with this bug is that it is almost impossible to reproduce it, it happens… sometimes. if only we could find a way to make it happen always… but the only thing we could do now is collect broken saves and try to guess what's gone wrong. T_T

a-a-a-and… i have GREAT news for you! your save is completely ok. it is the bug in loading routine which made everything go off-rails.

@red_kangaroo, here it is in `void recipedata::Load(inputfile& SaveFile)`.
what we have there is:

  if(game::GetCurrentSavefileVersion() >= 135){
    SaveFile >> bTailoringMode;
    SaveFile >> v2TailoringWorkbenchLocation;
  }

this is prolly a leftover from some older code, and it makes everything crash. the save routine and the load routine are identical, and this part of the code actually tries to fix something which doesn't need to be fixed at all. kill those lines for good, and the save will load without any problems.

p.s.: trying to resume suspended crafting actions still crashes, though. but at least it is possible to move around and kill monsters, and go back to the previous level (and back again to this one). the whole crafting thing is prolly need some love (which is a known issue too), but this, sadly, is beyond my abilities.

Awesome! Great work finding the bug! I'm glad something good came out of this.

this actually was a… happy accident. usually desyncing like this breaks loading in some other completely unrelated place, where there is nothing suspicious at all. i held no hopes at all, but it turns out that this time it breaks right near the place we need.

i don't know if/when there will be .exe update, but you prolly can keep this save until new build is released, if you want to properly finish it.

or consider yourself a winner with x8 multiplier, because of helping to defeat one of the hidden bug-bosses.

Yeah, I'll keep the save backed up just in case.

It sounds like the issue was crafting related. If I wanted to avoid triggering this bug, do you know if I should avoid anything specific (like not saving while a crafting action is suspended) or is it too hard to pinpoint a cause (in which case I guess the recommendation is to craft sparingly)?

yeah, exactly this. saving with suspended crafting will definitely produce a broken save. there might be other bugs, of course , but this one will always be triggered.

also, please, note that your save may actually be more damaged than it seems, so it is prolly better to not use crafring at all in this save. i haven't heavily tested it, jut ran around a little to see if it crashes. it seems to work (except crafting), but who knows…

Thank you very much!

Here is a dev build with your save. It seems to be loading fine, but let us know if you encounter further problems!

EDIT: OK, too big. I had to delete the Sound folder. If you'd like sounds, you can copy it back in from 0.59

You guys went above and beyond. Thanks for the dev build red_kangaroo, it works! The adventure continues!